William p



(No Model.) Y

W. P. Z. DESANT. l RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 489,629'. Patented Jan. 10, 1893.

ma Nawms Prrsns co. PHoToLl'mo.. wAsHmGToN, D. c.

lUNITED STATES PATENT Ormes.,

WILLIAM F. Z. DESANT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE DESANT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489,629, dated January 10, 1893.

Application filed April 25, 1892. Serial No. 430,610. (No model.)

.To all whom irl may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. Z.DnsANr, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have made anew and useful invention in Rail- Way-Signals,of which the following is a speciication.

My invention is directed particularly to improvements in signals of the semaphore type, and it has for its objects: First the construction of a signal of this type which shall be cheap, simple and efficient. Second will operate in all kinds of weather wit-h a minimum expenditure of energy; and third, shall be set to danger and safety alternately by the same power acting under the control of a single electro-magnet. I accomplish. these objects by the semaphoric apparatus hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical sectional View of my improved semaphore, parts being shown in side elevation.

P is a hollow signal post, screw threaded at its top for the purpose of securing the screw threaded collar F, to which is secured a water tight metallic casing C,inclosing the working parts of the apparatus.

S is a semaphore arm pivoted by a shaft E in the casing C, the right hand portion of the arm being of the usual pattern and the left hand portion being provided with a colored lens G2, adapted to lie in front of a lamp (not shown) but carried on a shelf S secured to the collar F and casing C by one or more bolts h.

Z is a metallic arm or lever secured byaset screw to the shaft E in the interior of the box 0r casing O, and maintaining` the semaphore S normally at safety in the position shown, through the agency of a stop pin t in the side of the casing, the free end of the lever Z resting in the position shown directlyin the path of one of a series of pins p3, located at equal distances apart on the face of a gear wheel Gr, carried by a shaft E which also carries a fixed pulley or drum P2, which, in turn, is connected by a cord passing through a hole in the base of the casing C with a second pulley P atgear Wheel Gr meshes with a pinion p carried by a second shaft parallel with the shaft E and journaled also in the sides of the box.

D is a controlling disk and G a second gear wheel, said parts being carried by the same shaft which supports the pinion p.

p2 is a second pinion meshing With the gear Wheel G and carried by a shaft which supports also a retarding fan f.

M is an electro-magnet connected by conductors w w with circuit closing devices at the opposite ends of a section of track to be protected, and ot is an armature therefor carried by a pivoted armature lever L having a retractile spring s and a pair of detent arms e e', the former being provided with a hooked extension adapted to fall into either 0f two notches k lo in the face of the disk D.; and the latter, e', having its free end so located that it will check or release the fly fan f, by moving into or out of the path of a lateral lug or extension at one edge of said fan as will be described in connection with the mode of operation of the apparatus, which is as follows.

Suppose the apparatus to be wound up with sufficient cord upon the drum or pulley E to permit the weight YV to ultimately reach the bottom of the post, and all of the parts in the positions shown, and that a train enters a section of track momentarily closing the circuit from the battery (not shown) through the magnet M. It is thereby energized and the ar.

mature a drawn forward against the influence of the adjustable retractile spring s. This causes the lever L to withdraw the ends of the arms c c, the first from the notch 7c in the disk D, and the latter out of the path of a lug or extension on one edge of the fly fan The weight W, therefore, acting through the pulley P', cord c, and drum P2, transmits motion from the gear wheel G through the pinion p', gear Wheel G', to the disk D and fly fan f, the motions of the drum E and the disk D being in the direction of the arrows, as shown. After the disk D has advanced a distance sufficient to carry the notch k from under the hooked end of the arm e, the cir- IOO cuit is broken, but the gear Wheels G G', disk D and liy fan f, continue to rotate under the influence of the weight W after the circuit is thus broken, for the reason that the hooked end of the arm e now rides on the face of the disk D, and maintains the free end of the arm c out of the path of the ily f an f. As the gear wheel G advances, that one of the pins p3 lying directly' under the free end of the lever or arm Z carries said lever or arm with it and thereby imparts to the shaft E a rotary motion, and hence to the right hand end of the semaphore S an upward motion until the disk D has nearly completed its full revolution, or rather until the free or hooked end of the arm e falls into the second notch k and checks or stops the mechanism with the semaphore in an upright position. In this position, however, the lever or arm Z has been advanced to a point where it is almost out of action with the pin p3 which earried the semaphore to this vertical position. It (the semaphore) .therefore stands locked in this vertical position of safety until the train passes ont of the section and the circuit is once more closed through the magnet M a suflicient length of time to allow the free or hooked end of the arm e to rest upon the tace of the disk D between the notches k and k. The apparatus continues to advance, therefore, as before, and the semaphore is raised a trifle higher, or until the pin p3 passes out from under the free end ot' thelever Z, at which time the semaphore drops immediately into the position shown in the drawing with the such that on entering a block the signal would l be displayed at danger to incoming trains passing in the same direction with the train which last set it to danger, and to safety on passing out of said block, such matters being well understood by those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isz

A semaphoric signal consisting of a pivoted semaphore arm having an operating lever the free end of which bears normally on any one of a series of pins carried bya power impelled gear wheel; a retarding device as a iy fan rotated by the same train; a notched controlling disk and an electro-magnet provided with an armature lever having two arms one of which checks the iy fan while the other regulates the movements of the semaphore arm, substantially as described.

WM. F. Z. DESANT.

Witnesses:

C. J. KINTNER, ROBERT C. MARA. 

